


Encyclopedia Botanical

by bijasi



Category: Fine Line - Harry Styles (Album), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, F/M, Florist Harry, Fluff, Genderqueer Character, Rimming, Unprotected Sex, flower shop au, genderqueer harry, she/her harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:07:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22949059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bijasi/pseuds/bijasi
Summary: Xander is trying to get flowers for his mom for her birthday, but he has no idea where to start. Thankfully, the shopgirl, Harry, is more than eager to help find the perfect set.Or: There's probably a joke somewhere about a budding romance. Imagine it's here.
Relationships: Xander Ritz/Harry Styles
Comments: 1
Kudos: 42





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> This is part one of a two-part fic. Part two will be up soon.
> 
> Harry uses she/her pronouns in this work.

He’s standing between a couple yellow flowers and some bluish purple ones. His hands curl in his pockets as his anxiety rises and he’s quite aware of how small the shop actually is. 

There’s a large counter somewhere behind him where the attendant stands putting together some colorful display, there’s a door to the backroom, and the rest of the shop - for all Xander can see - is just covered in flowers in different sized pots of different shapes and colors. Rows of flowers start from the floor, then continue onto a small bench and then onto another bench just slightly taller, like a miniature stadium taking up sixty percent of the small space. 

And he’s just been standing here.

The song from the speaker fades into the third one he’s heard since he’s arrived.

There’s a small, polite cough from behind the counter that makes his shoulders shift as he turns back toward the yellow flowers.

“Did you need any help?” the attendant asks for the second time since he’s arrived.

Xander turns to glance at her over his shoulder before turning back to the flowers. “Uh, no. No, I think… I think I’ve sorted it out.” He grabs the potted yellow flowers and walks over to the counter, placing them on the bit of space not covered in leaves or chopped stems.

“Sorry, let me just…” the girl swipes a delicate hand over the counter, nails alternating pink and yellow, and brushes the bits into a wide painted ceramic bowl filled with other chopped stems. Her rings scrape against the countertop. “Trying to make some window displays for the upcoming holidays,” she explains through a small laugh.

“It’s no problem.”

“Interesting choice,” she says, nodding to the yellow flowers. “Someone hurt you?”

Xander furrows his brow.

She glances up once and then again when she notes the look on his face. “I’m sorry,” she says, pausing in her movements. “I don’t mean to pry.”

“You’re not,” Xander shrugs. He watches the relief ease back into her as she finishes up the last bit of cleaning. “Um, they're for my mom.”

She pauses again over the counter, a pearl necklace slipping from beneath the neckline of her t-shirt and swaying gently. She slowly wipes the last of the stems into the bowl before setting it on the small wooden table behind her. It tilts one way under the weight of the bowl. “Your mom?”

Xander blinks his focus back to her, confused. “Yes?” 

She looks back down at the flowers on the counter between them as if she’s confused as to why he would be purchasing flowers for his mom in a flower shop.

He takes the spare moment to eye her - all brown messy curls dancing out from beneath a yellow headband. She’s got a light blue graphic tee on below the pearls, but the white (albeit streaked with yellow-green stains) apron covers whatever design is on it. The name of the shop is scrawled across the apron in slanted blue letters - Ben’s Bouquets - and just above that to the side is a small white name-tag with a handwritten “Harry” in pink marker. There’s a small cartoonish looking flower drawn next to the name.

There’s a surprising array of tattoos sprawling down her arm as she taps her fingers gently on the counter and her pink lips twist in thought.

“Is there something wrong?” Xander finally asks. “I have a card or cash, if you prefer one over the other.”

“Sir, do you know what yellow carnations are used for?”

Xander blinks at her and then looks down at the flowers. He looks back up at her. “Um. No?”

Her mouth curves up in a polite smile as she looks back up at him. “Carnations are lovely, really. But, I feel like you need to understand that there are certain messages that flowers send.”

Xander looks back down at the yellow carnations.

“See,” she begins, shifting her weight, “carnations in general are all about beauty, right? Which is great. But it’s when you dive into the different kinds that it gets confusing. Hang on.” She holds a finger up as she turns away, but she only makes it one step before she turns back to him. “Do you have a minute?”

Xander shrugs and glances around the shop. “Sure, I guess.”

Her smile grows and her eyes light up enough to match the stains on the apron. He thinks there’s something oddly beautiful about the comparison. She disappears behind the door into the backroom and Xander is left standing at the counter with a mocking pot of yellow carnations.

He quickly pulls his phone from his pocket and types “yellow carnations" into google. He reads the first sentence and sighs.

The door opens then and Harry spills out from the back room, an array of potted flowers balanced in her arms.

Xander jolts to the side of the counter. “Do you need help?”

“No no!” she smiles through stems and petals. “I’ve got it!”

He awkwardly shuffles back to his place on the other side of the counter and quickly slides the yellow carnations over just in time for her to set down the four others. 

She exhales and idly brushes off dirt from the apron, missing about a dozen spots of it. “Okay! So,” she looks up at him and points to the first set of carnations, bright pink to match her lips. “Pink. Most popular, really. If you’re looking for carnations specifically, these are the ones to go with. Pink is for love of a woman - more often a mother.”

Xander eyes the flowers. “She’s very adamant about not having pink flowers in her house.”

Harry’s face falls.

“Nothing against them!” he’s quick to add. “It’s just… she thinks they’re too typical? Boring.”

Harry frowns at the pink carnations as if she was personally affronted by this statement.

“I’m sorry.”

She smiles and shakes her head. “No matter.” She lightly pushes the pink carnations to the side and moves the red ones over. “I assume she feels the same about red then?”

Xander gives a slanted sort of apologetic smile.

Harry laughs quietly and pushes them next to the pink ones. “Love and admiration, for the record.”

“Noted,” Xander nods, keeping his gaze on her.

She takes a breath and seems to bring her spirit back up as she pushes forward a set of purple carnations. “Purple isn’t widely overused, but it still gives a bit of color.”

“Purple is fine,” he nods enthusiastically. “I was deciding between these yellow guys or those actually.” He points over his shoulder at the other purple flowers he’d been eyeing as if to prove his point.

“Oh,” Harry says quietly.

Xander looks back at her to find her mouth still shaped over the word and her brows up close to her hair. “Oh… like a bad oh? Or a good oh?”

“Um,” Harry lets out a small laugh and quickly brings her hand to cover her mouth. Her eyes crinkle above it in another silent giggle.

“Oh no,” Xander deflates and smiles. “Did I pick out flowers for like a dead cat or something?”

“No, no,” Harry drops her hand and shakes her head, curls bouncing wildly. “It’s just… um… sweet peas are meant for like… saying goodbye?”

“Oh,” Xander tilts his head thoughtfully.

Harry clears her throat softly. “It’s um, saying goodbye after, like, a special occasion?”

“Like a dinner?”

“Or, like, you know,” Harry shrugs. “Um,” her gaze flits about the room, “like, after spending the night?”

Xander blinks at her and then is immediately hit with a realization. “Oh.” His mouth stays around the word and his brows are up close to his hair.

Harry rolls her lips into her mouth to keep from laughing out right.

“Right,” Xander clears his throat. “I had no idea there were so many meanings for flowers.”

Harry shrugs. “Words aren’t always the answer. Sometimes they complicate things.”

He twists his mouth and eyes her for a moment. “Okay. I’ll forego the… purple… sex… flowers.”

“Probably a good choice,” she nods, smiling.

He runs a hand through his hair and gestures to the purple carnations between them. “So these. I assume these are not for… intimate moments?”

“Not quite,” she laughs. “They’re more for, um, impulse? Someone who is a bit reckless or makes impulsive decisions?”

“Like buying their mother sex flowers?”

Harry twists her mouth in a smile as she pushes the flowers next to the other carnations. “Something like that.”

“And these white ones?”

“Innocence,” she says, pulling them forward. “Purity. Typical of what you’d think for white flowers. In the context of a carnation, of course. So, innocent and pure love. This is probably closest to what you’d like to convey to a parent if you’re leaning toward carnations.”

“I see,” he nods. He glances over at the yellow ones. “And these are rejection and disappointment.”

She smiles at him.

He shrugs and tucks his hands into his pockets. “Google.”

“A wondrous encyclopedia at your disposal.”

He laughs. “Uh, alright. So, as much as I appreciate the lesson here, I’m starting to think carnations aren’t the way to go.”

Harry nods in agreement. “What is it you’re trying to say to your mom?”

“Happy birthday?”

Harry laughs and ducks her head down. A small dimple forms beneath the stubble that Xander suddenly notices in the streaming sunlight. “Let me put these back. I’ve got a few ideas.”

“Sure,” he says, finding himself short of breath suddenly. He turns away and looks over the splatter of color that takes over the room in different flowers. He focuses on each one, wondering how she can remember the meaning of them all so clearly. 

He’s lightly brushing his thumb over the petal of something that’s a saturated red when he hears the door open again. He turns quickly and sees her wheeling over a small, rickety metal cart with a few different flowers on it. 

“Happiness,” she says by way of greeting.

He follows where she looks pointedly at the red flower. “Oh.”

“Part of the daisy family,” she explains and stops the cart on his side of the counter. “A decent option, honestly.”

He shrugs. “It’s not as red as a rose, so I don’t think it would be too bad.” He turns back to her and eyes the cart. “So what do we have here?”

“Well,” she smiles and inhales, an excitement falling across her face like a young child ready to explain their soda-volcano in science class. “Lavender is admiration - always good for a parent. Irises are good for eloquence and the purple one specifically is a show of wisdom. Again, definitely a winner for parents. I know you wanted to stay away from red but,” she pauses, chewing her lip and then tugs him by the wrist toward a flower beneath the windowsill. “These are anthuriums and they’re perfect for, like, hospitality and thanks. And they’re quite different from your typical looking flower.”

Xander tilts his head at it, wrist still wrapped in her hand.

She turns to him, brows tilted up in the center in question. “Anything jumping out at you?”

“Uh,” he swallows and turns back to the rickety cart, the flowers behind them and the one in front of them. “It’s a lot.”

“Yeah,” she laughs, breaking into an eased smile. “Isn’t it amazing?”

He eyes her skeptically for a moment and then nods. 

“What if you put together an arrangement?” she suggests, eyes darting around the room. “We could put one or two anthuriums and then work some of the lavender around it. The purple and red would definitely be a lot but if we add some white in there…” she trails off, tapping a finger to her chin as she continues to look around the room.

Xander opens his mouth to speak, but stops when she suddenly drops his wrist and steps around him. He blinks and spins to find her running a finger lightly over the petal of one flower, but looking at another. 

“Could do a Calla lily… I mean they’re not _always_ used for weddings, and their meaning would be a nice touch…”

She’s mumbling to herself and for a moment Xander is unsure if he’s supposed to respond in the pause or not.

But then she continues: “Might be too close to the anthurium.” She spins to the right and skirts around a potted plant with a very long stem that comes up to her waist and sprouts out in little blue flowers. “A white chrysanthemum could work perfectly,” she mutters, reaching out toward a few white flowers on the second shelf.

Xander shifts his weight, feeling a bit useless and helpless. He spots a white flower off to the left and points to it. “What about that one?”

Harry turns to him quickly as if just remembering he was in the room with her. She follows his gaze and presses her lips together as if to hold back a laugh. “Are you trying to assure your mom that you won’t give away her secrets?”

Xander furrows his brow and shakes his head.

“Leave the white daisy,” she winks and turns back to the flowers she’d been reaching for. 

He leans on the counter and watches as she flits about the rows of flowers like an overexcited butterfly in a brand new garden. 

When her hands are full of different flowers and stems and leaves, she turns back to him and exhales through a wide smile. “I’m gonna make you a bouquet.”

Xander blinks. “Wonderful.”

“Wanna watch?”

Xander raises his brows just a touch. “Watch you...put the bouquet together?”

She nods enthusiastically and a petal falls from one of the flowers. She frowns down at it on the floor.

“Sure,” Xander says, finding it might be difficult to look away from her for longer than a minute, and he’s not exactly sure how long bouquets take.

She pops her head back up and smiles at him. “Okay. You can pick out the vase and everything! Come on!” 

He lets out a small laugh and pushes off the counter to follow her toward the door to the backroom. “Is there an encyclopedia of vase meanings I should know about?”

“Not really,” she shrugs and uses her hip to push the door open. “Just whatever you think is pretty. Probably something to match the bouquet though.”

Xander stretches an arm above her to hold the door open while she carries in flowers upon flowers. 

He looks around the backroom. It’s a bit cooler in here and the light is dimmer, but the setup is quite dingy. The floor looks like the floor of his garage, except instead of oil stains and wrenches, it’s covered with countless chopped stems, petals and leaves. There’s a metal table with a rolling spool of parchment paper, some of it already extended across the surface and it’s here that she lays the flowers down. 

Xander tucks his hands in his pockets and looks up at the metal shelves lining the walls. Different pots and vases crowd each other on one of them and on two others several plants are bunched together. There’s a spray bottle hanging from each shelf and a small metal bucket next to each. He wanders over and peers into one of them.

“Flower food,” Harry says, by way of explanation. 

He turns back to see her lining the flowers up one by one across the parchment paper. 

“Flowers need to eat too.” She turns and smiles at him over her shoulder. “Healthy diet and all.”

He nods dumbly back at her.

She turns to the flowers again and starts slowly rearranging their lineup.

Xander walks over and stands off to the side watching her. 

Harry’s eyebrows are turned down in concentration, lines forming in the center and her frown puffs out almost like a pout. Her fingers dance gently along the flowers as she continues to rearrange their order and he drops his gaze down to her yellow flared skirt that comes just above her knees. She’s got thick white socks bunched up around her calves and wedged brown booties with little tassels at the zippers. She bends one of her legs and rests the toe of her boot on the floor a bit behind her, tilting it this way and that - a subconscious movement as she chews her lip in concentration. 

“You’re beautiful.”

Her movements freeze almost the same time as Xander’s lungs do.

He forces a swallow down and attempts to clear his throat, but it just comes out like a choked cough. 

She finally looks back up at him with wide eyes. 

“S-sorry,” he shakes his head and gestures to the flowers. “Ignore me. Continue.”

Harry blinks and turns back to the flowers, but she seems to be staring at one spot, no longer really seeing the flowers. “I’m gonna… check on the front. Make sure no one’s waiting.”

Xander nods and takes two big steps to the side to give her plenty of space to leave. 

After the door closes, he stares at the flowers on the table. 

It feels like an eternity when she finally comes back in and brushes past him. “No one’s here!” she adds cheerfully, back to working on the flowers.

“Um, do you want me to come back?” Xander offers.

“What?” she frowns and turns to him. “No, this will be quick. Besides, I need you to pick out your vase.” She points to the metal shelving behind him.

Xander turns and starts browsing the shelves to the ambient noise of Harry chopping the tips of the stems from the flowers. The vases are all hand-painted and Xander starts to wonder if Harry did them herself before she speaks up.

“I teach a gardening class.”

He turns to eye her over his shoulder.

She’s tilting her head, one curl bouncing over the bandana where it escaped free. She measures one of the white flowers to the red one that Xander’s already forgotten the name of. “On Sundays.”

“A class?”

“Yeah,” she glances back at him before turning back to snip a bit more of the white flower’s stem. “There’s a building down on Beaconsfield. I take over one of the back rooms there.”

“The old gymnasium?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

Xander lets out a small laugh and goes back to eyeing the vases. “I used to practice basketball there.”

There’s a beat of silence before Harry speaks up again. “You grew up around here then?”

“Went to Willow Elementary when it was still open.”

“No shit,” Harry laughs. “I grew up around the block from it. Went there for two years before it closed and they transferred us to East Bridge. Talk about a disaster.”

“Is that where the kids come from?”

“Kids?”

Xander glances back at her and then points to the vases. “The ones you teach? I’m guessing they did these?”

Harry lets out a small laugh and turns back to the flowers. They’ve been arranged in different sizes, the white ones tucked between the red one and the two purple ones. “The class is for Sunnyside Manor.”

Xander quirks an eyebrow. “The old people home?”

Harry gives him a sideways smile as she looks back at him. “Assisted living.”

“Right,” Xander shakes his head. “Sorry. That sounded rude.” He turns back to the vases and then to her. “So, what, you have them paint vases?”

Harry shrugs. “Any of the flowers and plants we have here that aren’t sold in time, I take to the class. I let them make their own arrangements and things for their rooms and then we paint vases to keep them in.”

Xander looks back at the vases.

“Once in a while, some of them will paint an extra one or two.” She looks back down to the flowers and pulls a rubber band from a small pot off to the side. She wraps it twice around the stems. “Other times, the facility gives them back to me to use here.”

“Back to you?”

Harry settles the rubber band and makes a few final adjustments on the bouquet.

“Oh.”

Harry looks back at him with a sad smile. “See one you like?”

Xander spins back to the vases. “Um… I mean, something with some red or purple on it, I think, right?”

Harry steps up next to him, craning her neck at the shelves. She reaches up to a shelf just above her and pulls down a round white vase with purple and yellow brush strokes over it. She grabs two more from the bottom shelf, a red one with white flowers painted on and another white one with multicolored flowers. “Any of these jumping out at you?” she asks, craning her neck over to the next shelf as she balances the three vases in her arms.

“I like the first one you grabbed.”

Harry looks down at it and up to him. “Etta?” She frowns down at it and then up at him again. “You’re not just saying that because it’s the first one I grabbed, right?”

“No, no!” Xander laughs. “I actually was looking at that one before. All the ones with flowers on them,” he shrugs, “they seem so…”

“Overdone?”

“Tacky.”

Harry’s brows pop up over her smile.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she laughs. “I get it. The flowers in my apartment are honestly just in colored glasses.”

“Sounds nice.”

She shrugs. “So, Etta?”

“Etta.”

She smiles and nods once. “She was a fun one.”

“Looks like she had some style.” He watches as Harry shifts her arms to start placing the other two back until he finally reaches forward and takes the other two vases from her and puts them back on the shelf.

“Thanks,” she laughs quietly and spins toward the desk.

Xander tucks his hands back into his pockets and walks over.

She pours a bit of water into the vase from a small tin watering can and then carefully takes the rubberband from the flowers, keeping them in the arrangement she’d made. Once they’re in the vase and she makes a few last minute adjustments, she turns to him. “So? What do you think?”

“I think they’re probably going to shift around on the drive,” he says, honestly.

Harry twists her mouth to the side. “I can put them back in the rubberband if you’d like? When you get home you can take it off and put them back in?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “You’ve done it perfectly. I’ll just mess it up.”

Harry lets out a quiet laugh. “Alright, um. Well, any other flower orders you need for today?”

“Nope,” Xander sighs out. “Just the one.”

Harry nods and hands the vase to him. “I’ll meet you out at the counter in a second.”

Xander nods and exits the back room.

It’s gotten only a bit darker outside and through the flower-crowded window he can see kids with backpacks flooding the sidewalks this way and that, all white polo shirts, khakis and laughter. He hears the door pull open and he turns to find Harry coming back out, drying her hands on her apron. 

“Ah, school’s out. Didn’t realize it was that late already.” 

“I hope I didn’t take up too much of your time.”

“Of course not!” she says, pressing a few buttons on the touchscreen behind the counter. “Passed the time. Usually I won’t get people until about four or five o’clock. The East-Enders on their way home from work snagging flowers for whoever’s waiting for them.”

“You make arrangements for all of them?”

“No,” she laughs and shakes her head, tapping her colored nails on the counter. “I have ready made arrangements that I’ll put out just about at this time. Easy sales. Throw a post-it on each one with a price and those people usually just grab the first one they see.”

“Wow. No lessons in white roses versus pink?”

“I save that for the ones who are here because they mean it.”

Xander tilts a smile at her. “Card or cash easier?”

Harry shrugs. “I take both happily.”

He hands his card over and waits as she puts the transaction through. He slides his card back in his wallet and pockets it. “I appreciate all the help today. Really.”

“Any time,” she smiles and nudges the vase forward toward him.

Xander’s eyes narrow just slightly as he considers her for another moment. He opens his mouth but changes his mind last second, looking at the flowers as he scoops them up. “So, one more time. Happiness…” he trails off in question.

She offers a light smile and points to the flowers in order. “Happiness and abundance, truth and loyalty, calmness and devotion.”

“Might forget all that,” he laughs.

“Just tell her they mean what she means to you. You’re happy around her, you’re loyal to your family and you get a sense of calm when you’re with her.”

Xander snorts. “You should meet her.”

Harry’s brows raise.

“Not like - I don’t mean, like,” Xander swallows. “Just that, she’s a bit hectic sometimes.”

“Who isn’t?”

“Fair enough,” he laughs and tucks the vase against his chest. “Thanks, Harry.”

Harry lifts a hand in farewell as the bell above the door dings. 

“Excuse me,” an out-of-breath man says quickly. “Sorry to interrupt. I need anything that says I’m sorry and _fast_.”

Xander looks back at Harry with a laugh.

“Blue hyacinths,” she says through a small smile. She points across the room. “Back corner, second tier.”

The man hustles over to the corner and Harry turns back to Xander. “You should stop by sometime this week. Let me know how your mom liked them.”

“Yeah,” Xander nods. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“See you then,” she smiles as the bell above the door dings again.

“My best friend just got a new job,” a boy says by way of greeting.

“Congratulations!” Harry says cheerfully, taking the hyacinths from the first man. “Bamboo for luck. Left windowsill.”

The boy scurries to the window and Xander can see a car pulling up out front with the driver eyeing the shop. He turns and lifts a hand in farewell and pulls the door open, stepping aside for the driver to dart in asking for flowers that say I miss you. As Harry responds with a cheerful “white orchids! Bottom tier!”, Xander lets the door close behind him and idly wonders if there are flowers for missed opportunities.


	2. Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xander makes another visit to his favorite flower shop.

It had taken a fair bit of googling, but Xander is confident that when he walks into the shop, he’ll be able to find the white orchids immediately by sight. 

He gives a single glance through the large window to find a familiar, cheerful smile framed with bouncy brown curls. She stands behind the desk, flipping through index cards from a small box.

 _Distracted,_ Xander thinks. _Good._

He ducks into the shop, the bell dinging above him and waves a quick hand without looking at her when she greets him (“hello! Welcome!”), trying to keep his face turned so she won’t recognize him. He swerves through potted plants, quickly finding the flowers he’s been memorizing for the last week on his phone. He picks up a small potted collection of the white orchids and brings them to the counter.

She’s still flipping through a box of index cards with bizarre latin floral names scribbled on them, a bit of dirt smudged over her hand (nails painted mint green today) and brows furrowed in concentration.

Xander gently places the white orchids on the counter.

Harry’s eyes flick to the flowers and her smile widens immediately. “Oh, these are lovely! They’re meant to say-”

“I’ve missed you,” Xander finishes for her.

She looks up at him and her face shifts from happiness to a quiet sort of surprise. “Oh.”

“Hi,” Xander says, suddenly panicking over whether or not she would even remember him from two weeks ago.

“Hi,” Harry says quietly. 

Xander shifts again. “Um,” he begins, not sure where to bring his sentence. He quickly tries to come up with a scenario of why he’s buying flowers that mean _I miss you_ and that they’re _absolutely definitely NOT_ his attempt at flirting with her.

She looks back down at the orchids and her face shifts. “They’re lovely.” Her brows furrow as she turns to the screen and starts tapping along. “Um, will that be cash or card?”

Xander’s lungs start to narrow. “Uh, card. Card is fine.”

Harry nods and offers an attempted smile as she takes his card. “Lucky person to get these from you,” she laughs, staring at the screen. “Um, a girlfriend? Or boyfriend?”

Xander blinks at her.

“Or, like, a family member?” she chances, looking back up at him.

Xander stares at her while trying to make his brain race to keep up with their conversation, a bit confused, but mostly annoyed that his surprise hadn’t been clear enough.

“It’s none of my business!” she laughs. “I’m sorry!” She swipes his card and shoves it back in his hand and tears off the receipt in a quick motion. “Here you are!”

“Um,” Xander stares down at the receipt. He quickly signs off on it, trying to come up with his solution to this disaster quickly.

“Enjoy!” she says, shoving the receipt beneath the register and staring back down into the box of index cards.

Xander clears his throat, coming to a decision. “Um, you too.” He slowly nudges the flowers forward and tucks his hands into his pockets as he turns to the door. He makes it far enough to put his hand on the doorknob before she speaks.

“What?”

He takes a breath and turns back to her. 

She’s staring at the flowers, confused or perhaps waiting for the flowers themselves to explain to her what just happened.

Xander scratches at his nose and then walks back toward the desk. “They’re, uh, they’re for you.” He gestures to her, to clarify that she - as the only other person in the room - is who he is talking to.

“Me?” she asks, anyway.

Xander takes a breath, ignoring the way his heart is pounding. “I wanted to thank you for helping me with the flowers for my mom. And I…” he takes another breath and starts over. He speaks, “I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” but his words are trampled over by the sound of the bell dinging and a gentleman spilling into the room demanding flowers for a forgotten anniversary.

Harry blinks her focus to the newcomer.

Xander drops his gaze, his lungs continuing their collapse inside of him.

“Today, please?” the guy demands. “Anniversary is today, not next week.”

Xander shoots him a glare and then shifts his gaze to eye Harry’s reaction.

She blinks back her shock and points to the far right corner. “The carnation and tulip combo on the first tier,” she says, voice with a hint of a shake. “In the yellow vase.”

“Fantastic.”

Xander drops his gaze to the floor again. When he’s sure the man has disappeared to fetch his bouquet, he takes a step closer to the desk. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you,” he chances again, quietly.

Harry looks up at him with wide eyes. “Me?”

Xander’s mouth curls in a nervous laugh. “You can stop checking for clarification after everything I say. I assure you I’m not talking to the forgetful asshole in the corner.”

A small laugh bursts from her that she covers quickly with a hand. “I’ve - I’ve thought about you, too.”

Xander’s brows twitch up. “You have?”

Her mouth twists. “I believe you said something about not asking for clarification.”

Xander feels heat creep up his face. There’s a bustling behind him and he steps back quickly from the counter to make room for the man. He takes the moment to steady his breathing again and look around the shop. 

When the man finally leaves the shop, a silence settles over the flowers.

He looks back at her to find her staring confused at the white orchids. Suddenly, his nerves buzz to life. He quickly pulls his phone from his pocket, trying to pull up his search again. “I googled - quite a few times, actually - because I wasn’t sure if I heard you right last time or if I maybe just remembered wrong. But it says that they can be used as flowers to say ‘I miss you’ even if they do have other meanings associated with-”

“I’ve never been given flowers before.”

Xander snaps his gaze up from his phone to look at her.

She slowly reached forward and rubs one of the small white petals.

Xander swallows. “You work in a flower shop,” he points out, dumbly.

Harry nods, still transfixed on the flowers. “Yeah, and I think that’s why no one’s thought to buy them for me. I usually end up buying them for myself or just taking them home when they’re close to dying.”

Xander locks his phone and slides it back into his pocket, his hands following. “Well, you should have flowers.”

Harry’s mouth curves gently. “‘I must have flowers, always and always.’” She lets out a small, gentle laugh and then looks up at Xander. “Monet,” she says by way of explanation. “They’re beautiful.”

Xander tilts his head and gives a small shrug. “Fitting, then.”

Harry’s face falls a bit again, almost in a sad sort of surprise.

Xander scratches at the back of his neck. “I hope this wasn’t imposing or too forward.”

“No,” she says, a shake of her head and curls. “Not at all. I’m just a bit speechless, if I’m being honest.”

Xander lets out a slow breath and nods.

“I need to pick out a flower pot,” she says then, brows furrowed.

“Um, yeah, sure,” Xander nods. “I’ll let you get to it. I’ve got, uh,” he looks out of the store window and then back at her. “I’ve got nothing, actually. But, I can come back another time, maybe? If that’s alright.”

Harry offers a small smile. “You don’t want to help me pick out the vase?”

His brows pop up. “Oh. Yeah - yeah, of course. I’d love to.”

Harry’s smile grows wide and she picks up the flowers holding them close to her chest. She puts a small sign on the counter (“Feeding the flowers! Be out in a moment!”) and nods toward the door to the work room.

Xander nods and quickly steps around the desk to follow her.

The work room isn’t much different from the last time he’d seen it. It’s still cool in here, a damp feeling in the air. Stems and petals and leaves litter the floor and the wax paper is still spread on the metal table. Metal racks of plants and vases line the walls, a couple new ones added to the array he’d seen last time he was here.

“So, what are we thinking?” Harry sighs out through her smile. “The pink pistils in the center of these make me lean toward that sort of accent, but what should be the base color. I think white would be too much, you know?”

Xander looks sideways down at her, watching her scan the rows with her lips pursed to the side. “What about green?”

She tilts her head, brows furrowing. “Green could work, but I’m afraid it’ll blend too much with the stems. But maybe,” her eyes widen and Xander thinks he can see light bulbs appear in the air above her head, “maybe I could do, like, a darker shade? Not like a jade, but more of a basil.”

“Yeah,” Xander nods down at her, breath shallowing. “I think that’d be perfect.

Harry glances up at him with a smile before immediately shifting through the vases on the rack. “I think that will go nicely. Hopefully there’s one that color but also with pink details. I usually just use colored glasses - I think I told you that before - but these are also the first flowers I’ve ever gotten, which - I’ve also told you that, too - so I’m just repeating myself uselessly, I guess. But I feel like they should have a special vase, you know?”

Xander watches her ramble on, shifting different painted pots and glass each way. 

Her yellow crop top ends high enough to show the curve of her spine just above the waistband of a white flared skirt that falls down to the tops of her knees. She’s got thick yellow socks and heeled beige boots, but she’s still standing on her tip toes as she reaches up to a higher shelf. 

He really can’t be blamed for the way he reaches forward and spins her around to kiss her. 

She smells exactly like the flower shop itself with a hint of citrus beneath it all like she’d accidentally spilled lemonade on herself. As little as he’s known her, he finds he wouldn’t put it past her.

He pulls back from the kiss, his hands gentle at her waist. His skin burns where it touches hers.

She looks up at him with wide eyes and parted pink lips. “Okay,” she says, nodding.

He furrows his brows down at her. “Okay?”

She blinks a couple times. “I thought you asked if you could do that again.”

Xander quirks a brow. “I didn’t,” he says quietly, his chest sinking, “which now I’m realizing might have been incredibly rude not to ask first.”

“Oh,” her brows pop up. “No, it’s not rude. I might be confusing reality with imagination again.”

Xander fights the urge to smile or laugh. “Again?”

Her face falls. “Not, like, I just mean that I’ve imagined this before.”

He doesn’t bother to fight his smile this time as he watches her eyes widen in horror.

“I don’t mean, like, I think about the way you’d kiss me. Or, like, that you even would.”

“I have.”

She blinks up at him. 

He shrugs lightly, finding it a touch easier to breathe again. “I’ve thought about it quite a lot.”

“You have?” she barely gets out.

“I, um,” he clears his throat. “I thought it would’ve gone a bit more smoothly, honestly. I’d place the flowers on the counter for you to buy, you’d immediately understand that they were for you because I’ve missed you, and we’d…” he trails off, a bit embarrassed to find he’s somehow gotten this far in admission.

“And we’d what?” she asks, hardly above a whisper.

Xander shrugs. “Something romantic, like kiss over the counter above the flowers.”

“Oh,” Harry says, her hands tightening a bit where they’re wrapped around his forearms. 

“This works too,” Xander says quickly. “I just could’ve been a bit more timely with it, I suppose.”

Harry shrugs. “Kind of goes with the theme of you surprising me today, I guess.”

Xander lets a small laugh out and then takes a deep breath. “Uh, you were picking out a vase. I’m sorry.” He takes a step back from her, but her hands grip harder at his forearms and she steps forward with him.

“We could still kiss over the flowers,” she says quickly.

He follows her gaze over to where the flowers rest on the metal table. “I think it’s a bit late for that,” he laughs. “I’ve already gone and ruined it.”

She shakes her head quickly and starts pulling him with her toward the table. “No, but see? Nothing’s ruined. Because - because second kisses are always the best part.”

Xander quirks a brow. “Are they?”

Harry nods quickly. “First kisses are always such a rush, you know? A surprise, a shock.” She stations him in front of the table and she quickly walks around to the other side of it. “And, like, it’s over before either person really knows what happened. More often than not, people forget so many details of first kisses. I don’t even remember what I said when you kissed me, do you?”

He holds her gaze across the metal table, dim light pouring over her. He slowly shakes his head, smile veering toward apologetic. “Not really.”

“See?” Harry smiles. “Now we can remember every detail.” She looks down and turns the flowers so the light hits the petals just right. She brushes a couple leaves and chopped stems from the table and then tucks a curl behind her ear. She runs her hands quickly down her apron and then stares horrified at it before ripping it off over her head and tossing it to the side. 

Xander quirks a questioning eyebrow.

“I don’t wanna be wearing my work apron,” she explains quietly.

Xander shakes his head. “Of course not.”

She smooths out her skirt and tucks the stubborn curl back behind her ear again. “Okay,” she nods. “Are you ready?”

He looks down at himself, tan trousers and a light blue button down with the sleeves folded to his elbows. He looks back up at her. “You tell me?”

She tilts her head. “Come here.”

He braces his hands on the table and leans forward.

Her brows furrow as she leans over and reaches up to undo another button at his shirt. She folds the collar over and adjusts it, then follows by tugging at the seams at the shoulders to make sure it falls correctly over him. Finally, her eyes flick up to meet his again. “Okay,” she says quietly, bracing her hands down on the table.

“Can I kiss you now?” he asks quietly.

“Okay,” she repeats, nodding. 

He leans forward just a touch more and then meets her lips with his own. He takes a moment to think about the room - the chilled air from the vents above them, the dim lighting, the smell of dirt and flowers with the orchids just below them. He takes a moment to think about Harry: her white and yellow ensemble, brown wild curls and mint green nails. He angles his head just a bit to taste more of her, the citrus of her coming through even more somehow. Her eyelashes brush against him as she tilts her head, and when he smiles at it, he can feel her smile back.

He pulls back just a bit to look at her. “How was that?”

Her eyes are shining back at him as she smiles. “See?” she says. “It was perfect.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “But maybe a third kiss could be even better.”

She smiles wider, a small laugh coming from her and trailing along his jawline. “Or a fourth, or fifth.”

“Sixth, tenth, twelfth?” he asks, smiling against her mouth.

She angles her head up and meets him for another kiss, her tongue pressing against his as her breathing starts to come faster. 

He inches his hand forward a bit and then reaches across to grab hers.

She squeezes back as she angles her head again to lick deeper into his mouth, her other hand coming up to tug him forward against the table more by his shirt.

He uses his free hand to wrap around the back of her neck and pull her forward against the table as well, pressing deeper into their kiss. When he feels her hand slowly tighten against his shirt, he moves. He backs away from the kiss and lets go of her neck, using the hand that’s holding hers to lead her around the table to him. 

She’s quickly in front of him where he leans back against the table and then she’s pressed against him, leaning up on her toes to kiss him again.

He wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her close and lifting her just a bit while he leans down.

Her hands run down his arms, squeezing gently and then moving back up to tug at his collar as she steps back.

He follows her lead, not breaking the kiss but walking with her until he’s leaning down into her, feeling the way her spine bends backwards in his arms. 

One of her legs slowly lifts, curling around his, and her arms are looped around his neck to keep her from falling completely backwards.

He breaks the kiss for just a second to ask if she’s alright.

She nods quickly, reaching up for another kiss.

Xander lets another laugh out, pulling his mouth away again. He straightens them where they stand. “Your spine is gonna snap in half.”

“‘m flexible,” she says, shaking her head, eyes still set on his mouth.

He offers a smile down to her. “I can believe that, but I’d rather not test it.”

She flicks her gaze up to him and then tugs at his collar again, but this time straight down instead of toward her.

His brows furrow just for a second as he watches her sink lower, tugging him with her, until it clicks into place and he’s kneeling on the floor in front of where she sits, knees bent and bracketing him, skirt folding between them.

His heart pounds in his chest as he looks down at her. “Harry,” he says gently.

She nods up at him and tugs at his collar, pulling him over her as she lies down on the floor.

He braces his hands on either side of her head, leaves, petals and stems littered on the floor around them. He stares down at her and the way her curls spread around her.

She tugs lightly at his collar again to pull him down into a kiss.

He pushes down, deep into her mouth, his knees digging into the floor between her legs.

Her hand slinks down from his collar along the buttons of his shirt until she’s at his belt, tugging gently at it.

“Harry?” he asks again, quietly.

She nods against him and tugs at his belt once more. “I’ve imagined more than just kissing you,” she explains against his jaw. 

His heart pounds against his chest as he feels her tug at his belt again, pulling his hips closer to her. He ducks down and kisses wetly at her neck, tasting her sweat as her pulse beats against his tongue.

“Have you?” she asks.

“Imagined this?” he asks against her skin.

She nods.

He drags his lips up her neck to her mouth. “More often than I’d like to admit.”

She smiles against him. “Good.” This time, when she tugs at his belt, she lifts her hips up to meet him.

A small growl breaks from him as he feels her press up against him through the fabric of her skirt.

“Wanna do more than imagine?” she asks, barely above a whisper.

He shifts his gaze to meet hers in question.

She pushes up against him again as she tugs him down. “Find out what I really feel like around you?”

Xander’s hips instinctively push forward against her and he watches as she arches her neck, her smile widening.

“As much as I’d love to hear the sounds I can pull from you,” Xander murmurs against her neck, grinding down again, “I’m afraid I’ve come a bit unprepared.”

Harry lets out another small laugh. “I work in a flower shop.”

Xander pulls back and frowns down at her.

She lowers her hips and taps at his side to urge him off of her.

He backs up from her, curiosity spinning in his head while he tries to ignore the pain building at how hard he’s gotten just from grinding against her in their clothes.

She stands quickly and walks a bit further into the room and it’s then that Xander can see the way stems, leaves and petals have left stains against her white skirt.

Guilt sinks into him as she shuffles through a shelf of bottles. He swallows and clears his throat. “At the risk of killing everything we’ve started, I do want to warn you that your skirt is pretty ruined.”

She looks back at him and then twists enough to look down at the back of her skirt. She shrugs and turns back to the bottles. “Small price to pay. Aha!” She pulls a bottle free and walks back over to him. “Guess I’ll have to take it off.”

His heart stutters inside of him, but then he drops his gaze to the bottle in her hand.

“Aloe vera,” she smiles down at him.

“That works?”

“Definitely,” she nods.

He looks up at her skeptically.

“Would it help if I told you I’ve used it before?”

Xander’s brows furrow as his stomach turns at the thought of someone else fucking her, even though he doesn’t have any sort of claim on her.

Her brows quirk up. “Oh, not with anyone else,” she explains quickly. “Just on my own.”

Xander’s heart stutters again as a vision of her fingering herself on the metal table flashes through his mind, and there’s a mild panic in the back of his mind on how many palpitations he could have before his heart just gave up on him altogether.

Harry kneels down in front of him and slowly lets her knees spread as she slides down further. “Only if you want to,” she says quietly.

Xander swallows, trying to remember how words work. “Yes,” he manages to remember.

Her smile curves and she hands the bottle over.

“Leave the skirt on,” he says.

Her brows quirk up in question.

He pushes himself to stand with a bit of difficulty and then reaches down with a hand to help her up. She complies easily, and he moves her back over toward the table, leaning her over it. He sets the bottle of aloe vera down on it and then sinks down behind her. He slips his hands up her skirt and hooks his fingers around lace, slowly tugging down until the white panties appear. He lets them fall down to her ankles, hanging over the heels. 

His knees dig back into the ground as he flips her skirt and spreads her legs further apart. A moment later he’s pulling her back against his tongue, pushing against her hole and listening to her moan out above him. 

He licks into her over and over, hands spreading her open for easier access. After a few moments, she starts pushing back against him and he holds his tongue still as she fucks herself back onto him, pleading above him for more as she stretches wider and wider. 

When her moans fade into high pitched gasps, he pulls back and stands, undoing his belt and trousers to pull himself out. “You’re sure this is gonna work?” he asks, eyeing the aloe vera.

“Yes,” she pants, head hanging between her shoulders. “Trust me.”

He lubes himself up and then slips two fingers easily into her, scissoring to make sure she’s comfortable enough. 

She pushes back onto him, grinding against his fingers, neck angling back in a silent moan.

He takes a moment to lean over her as he curls his fingers in her, kissing her and swallowing down the groan. He moves back behind her, adjusts the skirt where he’s flipped it up, and removes his fingers, spreading her just a bit as he lines himself up with her. “Good?” he asks, pressing himself gently against the edge of her hole.

“Yes,” she pants back at him, looking over her shoulder. “Now, please?”

He slowly pushes into her, ears ringing with the echoes of her moans while his insides burst at the feeling of how tight she is around him. He slowly works himself into her until he’s able to push fully in, his hips pressed up against her ass. He leans down, kissing along her back and slowly pulls his hips back before he pushes them forward again. He focuses on the gasps she makes, angling himself to glide easily into her over and over. 

Her hands are splayed out against the metal table, curling and clawing against it every so often.

He reaches forward and pushes her face down, her cheek pressing into the flowers on the table, petals falling apart as she moves against them with each hard thrust into her. 

“I want you to come first,” he says suddenly, already feeling his own spine start a slow twist low in his back.

She nods quickly against the flowers and he watches as her hands quickly lift her shirt before she starts rubbing, grabbing and twisting at her nipples where they’d been pressed against the table. 

He moves one of his hands down and wraps it around her cock. They’re barely two strokes in before she’s coming over his fingers, spilling down onto the floor over petals and stems while she cries out against the orchids.

He lets go of her quickly, bracing his hand at her back while he tangles the other in her curls, gripping them as he snaps his hips into her quickly until he comes inside of her, rolling slowly against her as she pushes back onto him. 

When his breath comes back to him and he’s sure his heart hasn’t just exploded, he slowly pulls out from her, watching his come drip down from her. He looks around quickly and then holds himself while he snatches her apron from the floor. 

Xander cleans himself off quickly and then wipes her down, leaving a trail of kisses down her thigh before he pulls her panties back up her legs and lets the skirt fall back down around her. He gently turns her around so she’s leaning back against the table and looks down at her, a small laugh breaking from him as he sees an orchid petal stuck to her bright pink cheeks. He slowly peels it off and then leans forward to kiss her lightly.

“Wow,” she exhales. “That was way better than I’d imagined.”

Another small laugh rolls from him. “So, aloe vera, huh?”

She winks lazily up at him. “Told you it’d work.”

He presses another small kiss to her forehead and then freezes. “I really hope you don’t have any customers out there.”

She shrugs against him. “They can wait.”

He smiles down at her and runs his thumb along her smile. “You’re beautiful.”

“I ruined the flowers,” she says sadly.

He tilts his head to look at where they’re flattened against the table behind her. He shrugs. “I’ll just buy you new ones. Hopefully nothing that says that I miss you.”

She looks up at him in question.

“I’m hoping we won’t be going very long without seeing each other again.”

She plays lightly with the hem of his shirt and smiles up at him. “Well, you know, I was thinking…”

“Oh?”

“What I said about kisses? Like, the second one always being better?”

Xander’s brows quirk up. “You want me to do better than that?” he asks, gesturing vaguely around them.

Her smile curves to the side in a smirk. “Up for the challenge?”

Xander lets out a long breath. “With you? How could I say no?”

“I’ve got some guarana around here somewhere.”

“Some what now?”

“It’s a flower,” she laughs. “It’s good for endurance and strength.” She shrugs innocently. “It’s also an aphrodisiac.”

“They really have flowers for everything, hm?”

Harry reaches up on her toes and presses another small kiss to Xander. “Just about.”

“I’ll get to googling for your next gift.” He looks around them at the work room and back down at her. “Maybe I could even take you to dinner? Instead of just seeing you at work?”

Her smile grows, a small dimple poking into her cheek. “Dinner,” she repeats, as if testing the word out on her tongue. “I could definitely go for dinner.”

He leans down and presses a kiss to her dimple. “Then I’ll pick you up from work after you close. Does Friday work?”

She furrows her brows up at him. “It’s only Tuesday.”

He quirks a brow. “Are you free before then? I didn’t want to give you too short of notice.”

“I’m done today at six.”

A small laugh escapes him. “You wanna have dinner tonight?”

“Why wait?” she shrugs. “We had our first and second kiss today. Might as well stick with the pattern.”

His brows quirk. “I’ll-” he clears his throat. “I’ll tidy my apartment.”

Her mouth twists and she drags her knuckles gently against his cock through his trousers.

Xander bites at his tongue, keeping his breathing steady.

“I’ll see you at six, then.”

“I’ll see you at six,” he manages through already thinning breath. He leans down and presses another kiss to her mouth, cataloging the taste. 

When he leaves the work room and walks through the flower shop, he can’t help the smirk that grows as he sees a line of four impatient people, holding bundles of flowers and murmuring their confusions to each other while staring at the small sign.

“Hi!” he hears Harry chirp suddenly. “Thanks for your patience!”

Xander pulls the door back, moving aside to let a woman rush through the door already reaching for her wallet. He gives one look back over his shoulder to see Harry pushing curls behind her ear, dirt and a streak of green smeared next to her eye, cheeks still in bursts of pink as she listens to the old lady in front of her ask if she had a certain set of flowers in a different color.

He ducks out of the shop, shoving his hands in his pockets and going over a list of everything he needed to get done in the next three hours; the first being to google where the hell else to buy guarinas.

**Author's Note:**

> Harry should be surrounded by flowers always.
> 
> If you would like to follow updates on my writing or just stop and say hi, you can find me on [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/bijasiwrites).
> 
> Thank you all.
> 
> Love you all.


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